Highlands gets new social work chief

The top social work job in the Highlands has been filled following the departure of the last officer to hold the post. Harriet Dempster, 58, is to take early retirement from her role as social work director of Highland Council at the end of next month.

The council have announced that Bill Alexander, 51, will take over the £105,450-a-year post in September.

He has been filling in for Ms Dempster since last November, when she became chairwoman of the National Association of Directors of Social Work.

Mr Alexander has worked in social work for 30 years including periods with the former Strathclyde Regional Council and East Dunbartonshire Council.

He said: “I am looking forward to the new challenge of leading the social work service during this period of significant change.

“My priority will be to build on the good social work practice that we have in Highland, and continue the process of review and further improvement of these valued services.”

Council chief executive Alistair Dodds welcomed the appointment. He said: “We have made a first class appointment in Mr Alexander, who has very wide experience of social work services and the skills and leadership to take the service forward.”

Councillor Margaret Davidson, chairwoman of the social work committee, said she had “every confidence” that Mr Alexander would prove a successful director of social work.

Ms Dempster has spent 11 years as director of social work at the local authority, part of a 36 year career in social work. She has had to weather some turbulent times during her time at the council. She was in charge when the body of Danielle Reid, 5, was found in the Caledonian Canal in 2003.

A report into the girl’s death ruled that the social work department was among several agencies told it must accept responsibility for the tragedy.Since then the department has received a series of good reports from inspectors praising the way it deals with vulnerable children.